This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Using Flipboard to keep up with news, entertainment, and social networking friends and colleagues

Using imo for text chats on a variety of major chat services

In addition to making phone calls, playing games, and listening to your favorite tunes, you can use your Galaxy S III for social and business networking, as well as keep up with the news of the day. For example, you can use the included Flipboard app to read articles, watch videos, and follow feeds posted by your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn friends. If you’re looking for a more interactive experience, you can install the imo app and participate in text chats with friends on any of a dozen popular chat services.

Using Flipboard

If your main interest is keeping up with Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn friends, one of the simplest methods is to use the preinstalled Flipboard app. Flipboard lets you view status updates, read posted comments, and post your own status updates and comments. In addition, you can use Flipboard to view news and technology articles from a variety of respected news sources.

Dedicated Apps

Rather than use Flipboard for a full-blown—and potentially overwhelming—social networking experience, you may prefer to install dedicated apps for the social networking sites that you consider most important. The major sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, all have dedicated official Android apps that you can download from Google Play/Play Store.

Adding Social Networking Accounts

One of the first steps in using Flipboard is to link your SNS (social networking service) accounts that you want to track. If you aren’t currently a member of a social network, visit its website and sign up first. Currently supported sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Google Reader, Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr, 500px, Sina Weibo, Renren, and YouTube.

From the Home screen, launch Flipboard by tapping Apps and then Flipboard.

To link an account to Flipboard, tap the red magnifying glass icon on any Flipboard main page and tap Accounts on the screen that appears.

Flipboard’s main pages serve as a visual table of contents. The number of pages expands and contracts as you add or remove content categories and subcategories. Within these pages, every content category and subcategory has its own thumbnail that takes you directly to its content.

On the Accounts screen, scroll down to the Add an Account section and tap the name of the account that you want to track with Flipboard. Only accounts that you haven’t already linked are listed.

Although you can’t remove an SNS account from within Flipboard, there is a way to do it. From the Home screen, press the Menu key, tap Settings, tap Accounts and Sync, and select the account that you want to remove. Tap the Remove Account button and confirm the removal in the dialog box that appears.

To view a sample of a content source, tap its name. To add the source to your Flipboard feed, tap the plus (+) icon to the right of its name. Repeat this step for other content sources that you want to add. When you’re done, tap the Back icon or press the Back key.

To navigate within a category or subcategory, flick up and down as you do in the main pages. When you see an item that you want to read or view, tap anywhere within its content to view the complete item.

To post a status update, tap the red ribbon icon on any main page, tap the Compose icon (in the upper-right corner), tap your name, select the account to which the update will post, compose the update, and tap Send.

To attach a photo to a status update, press the Menu key and tap Take Photo or Choose from Library.

>>>Go Further: Other Ways to Keep Current with Social Networking

Although the Flipboard feeds are in a convenient format, you may prefer another option for checking recent Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or other SNS activity. First, you can use the Internet app to go directly to the SNS web site, just as you would with your computer. Second, each service offers a free, dedicated app that you can download from Google Play. Tap the Play Store icon and search for Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.